The Hate & The Hypocrisy: London Rally Against Israel's Hosting Of UEFA Tournament (video)

"Israel is an abnormal country.  It's a country that depends for its existence on violence and cruelty and repression,"  So claims Alexei Sayle, lending his weight to demands that Israel should not be allowed to host the UEFA under-21 championship tournament next month.

Ironically, the Jewish comedian was speaking to a reporter from Press TV, propaganda channel of the cruel, violent and repressive Iranian regime.

Also in this video, of a rally in London when UEFA officials were meeting, is Baroness Tonge ...

A letter in today's Guardian expresses the case for Israel and the inherent hypocrisy in the boycott merchants' demands very well:

'Firstly, the reason Israel plays in European football tournaments is that, long before the 1967 war and the subsequent "occupation", Arab and some Asian countries refused to play Israel at any level. Secondly, if countries were stopped from hosting tournaments because of their human rights records, we'd probably have to hold the World Cup etc in Luxembourg every four years!

Lastly, the games played in Israel will be played in front of crowds unhindered by restrictions on race or gender, unlike the United Nations-sponsored Gaza marathon, which was cancelled due to the fact women were banned from running with men. The World Cup after next is in Russia which, last weekend, saw the arrest of dozens of gay rights activists in Moscow. I don't see any "show Russia the red card" protests.'